In a display of virtual perfection on and off pit road this past Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Matt Kenseth (No. 17 USG Ford) and crew became the fourth team in NASCAR history to win the Daytona 500 and the following event.

What is even more impressive is the No. 17 team has the opportunity to become the first to win the first three races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and just might do it.

Kenseth joined some elite company by starting off 2-0. Ironically, the last driver to pull off such a feat was four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) in 1997, winning Daytona and Rockingham. Gordon, incidentally, battled Kenseth last weekend in the closing laps at ACS, finishing second.

The other two drivers to open with two wins are three-time series champion Cale Yarborough (1977, Daytona/Richmond); and seven-time champion, Richard Petty (1973, Daytona/Richmond).

After going all of 2008 without a win, the No. 17 team has turned it around by adding crew chief Drew Blickensderfer.

“I just feel great about the group we have assembled,” said Kenseth. “Everybody’s having fun. Everybody’s loose. Everybody’s performing at the same time. I think that, Drew has given the leadership and the spark they (the team) kind of needs.”

Kenseth heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to keep the streak alive. He has a Loop Data Driver Rating of 107.8 at LVMS and an Average Running Position of 10.771 .

Kenseth has posted two wins, four top fives and five top 10s at Las Vegas in nine starts. Kenseth is first in the series standings 85-points ahead of Gordon.